Infant Mortality in North Carolina Overview

Infant mortality is the death of a baby before its first
birthday. Infant mortality rates are the number of infant
deaths for every 1,000 live births within a given time frame
(usually a year). Infant mortality is thought to be a social problem with medical consequences and is often considered a measure of the general health of a community.

118,983 babies were born alive in 2013, North Carolina's infant mortality rate was tied for the lowest in the state's history. 7.0 babies died in 2013 for every 1,000 born alive. This is down 5.4% from 2012. This is a dramatic 44 percent reduction since 1988 when North Carolina
had the highest infant mortality rate in the nation. However, North Carolina continues to exceed the national average.

The two major causes of infant deaths are: prematurity and low birthweight, and birth defects remain significant. Prematurity (born too early) and low birthweight (born too small) have not changed in the last few years. 11.5 percent of babies were born less than 37 weeks gestation.

The percentage of low birthweight babies (less than 5.5 pounds) remains similar to 2011 and 2012 (8.8 percent of all births.)

Birth defects account for 16.9 of all 2013 infant deaths.

Of increasing concern is the increasing difference in death rates between babies of different races and ethnicities. The death rate for African American non-Hispanic babies is 2.3 times higher than for White non-Hispanic babies. Latino babies in North Carolina continue to have the lowest infant mortality rates (3.7 deaths per 1,000 live births.)

While advances in medicine and technology, case management services, educational programs and local community programs have all contributed to reducing the state's infant mortality rate over the years, there is more work to be done. Currently, a major effort is underway to improve the health of all women of childbearing age because healthier women are more likely to have healthy babies.

During the past ten years the infant death rate in N.C. has
decreased from 8.8 deaths per 1,000 live births
in 2004 to 7.0 deaths in 2013.

Resources to Reduce the Risks of Infant Mortality

The North Carolina Healthy Start Foundation is dedicated
to eliminating preventable infant death and illness in North Carolina.

To that end, we have developed pre-pregnancy, pregnancy,
and post-pregnancy public
education materials that teach women and families how
to increase their chances of being healthy and having a healthy pregnancy, and how to reduce the risks of infant death and illness.

The Your Health section of this Web site is full of tips and resources on pre-conception, women's health, pregnancy
and parenting topics.